Suchergebnisse

Abstract:
In the December 2011 protests that shook Russia, civic mobilization took place in two phases: first, in the form of a protest vote during the December State Duma elections, and second, in the postelection street protests in Moscow and in Russia' s larger regional capitals. To its credit, the Russian opposition was able to quickly tie the problem of electoral fraud to the current structure of the Russian political system, and to speedily organize large protest rallies in response. Yet more needs to be done.

Iran's nuclear activities are prominent in today's media reports. But few reports focus on the relationship between nuclear power and Iran's energy needs. The Iranian government claims that nuclear technologies are vital for the national electric power industry and therefore for the country's economy as a whole. It is common knowledge that the electric power industry is one of the main pillars of every country's economy, directly influencing both state viability and national security. A state's ability to provide and maintain the necessary amount of electricity production is vitally important. So, does Iran really, to such an extent, need nuclear power? My research shows that at the moment, and in the next ten years at least, the production of electricity using nuclear energy will secure an insignificant place in the energy basket of Iran.

In the December 2011 protests that shook Russia, civic mobilization took place in two phases: first, in the form of a protest vote during the December State Duma elections, and second, in the postelection street protests in Moscow and in Russia's larger regional capitals. To its credit, the Russian opposition was able to quickly tie the problem of electoral fraud to the current structure of the Russian political system, and to speedily organize large protest rallies in response. Yet more needs to be done. Adapted from the source document.

Iran has remained one of the most effective tools in Russia's foreign policy towards the West for more than two hundred years. Drawing on previously unpublished and recently declassified sources which change the established wisdom on many aspects of the history of Russia and Iran, Denis V. Volkov examines this relationship, and situates it within the broader context of Oriental studies. With a particular focus on the activities of scholars-diplomats, as well as scholars involved in academia, missionary activities and the military within their own professional domains, Volkov analyses the interaction of intellectuals with state structures and their participation in the process of shaping and conducting foreign policy towards Iran. This work explores the specific institutional practices of Russia's Oriental studies, including organisation of scholarly intelligence networks, taking advantage of state power for the promotion of institutional and individual interests, and profound engagement with Russia's domestic and foreign policy discourses of its time